For Her Own Good
by brokenflower
Summary: Rory wanted to know why Henry broke things off with Lane but the answer isn't what she expected. Stand Alone.


Author's Note: Okay I know that someone already posted a fic like this but I had been thinking about this idea for too long to just drop it. So please read and review!  
  
Oh yeah…PS: I don't own anything and the below quotes are taken from a transcript of "A-Tisket, A-Tasket."  
  
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~  
  
"Lane, I don't think this is gonna work out."  
  
"What?"  
  
"This - you, me."  
  
"Are you breaking up with me?"  
  
"How can I break up with you? I've never been out with you."  
  
"Well yeah, but that's what today was supposed to be, a date."  
  
"A date where we need a secret plan and a two-honk drive-by and a decoy cousin?"  
  
"Well, yeah."  
  
"Lane, I like you but I want to be able to actually pick you up, stop the car, and take you out. And I wanna be able to call you, at your house."  
  
"I'm gonna tell my mother, I promise."  
  
"When?"  
  
"Soon."  
  
"Yeah. Look, I've got prom coming up and my friends and I are gonna rent a limo to take us there and I wanna go, and I wanna take a date."  
  
"Well, I'm sure I can figure something out. Maybe Rory can…"  
  
"I asked somebody else."  
  
"Oh."  
  
"I'm sorry, I just figured you'd never be able to go and…"  
  
"No, it's okay, that's good. You should've asked someone else."  
  
"I do like you Lane."  
  
"Okay, well, thank you, I appreciate that. I have to go."  
  
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~  
  
"Henry! Henry wait up!" Rory called, running to catch up to the boy.  
  
Reluctantly he stopped and turned to her. He said nothing as she came to a stop in front of him, gasping for air.  
  
"I need…to talk…to you." she managed between breaths.  
  
"If this is about Lane…"  
  
"It's exactly about Lane." she interrupted. Her breathing having returned to normal she continued. "She wants a better explanation about the situation. Will she see you again? Why did you hurt her like that?"  
  
"Because the pain she feels now is nothing compared to the hurt she would have felt if I didn't break it off!" he snapped angrily.  
  
Rory blinked in shock. She was stunned at his outburst and puzzled as to what he had meant. Henry sighed and ran a hand through his hair. When he looked back up at Rory, his expression softened and his eyes were watery.  
  
"If I tell you, you can't tell Lane." he said, drying his eyes from the tears that threatened to fall.  
  
"I don't know." Rory said hesitantly.  
  
"Fine, then forget it." Henry turned to leave but she grabbed the sleeve of his blazer.  
  
"Wait! Okay fine, I promise not to tell Lane anything."  
  
"Meet me at lunch by the trees just off the courtyard."  
  
Before Rory could say any more he quietly ducked into his first period class, forcing Rory to do the same.  
  
~  
  
As soon as the bell rang, signaling the beginning of lunch, Rory hurried out to the courtyard and looked in the direction of the trees. There Henry sat dejectedly on a bench absentmindedly twirling a leaf with two fingers. Silently she walked up and sat next to him, neither saying a word.  
  
"I lied to her." Henry said quietly.  
  
"What?" Rory asked facing him.  
  
He turned to look at her with his pained eyes. "I lied to Lane, when I told her that we wouldn't workout. That I wanted to end things. I lied. I really like her. Heck you could go as far as saying I care for her in a loving way. I didn't want to break things off."  
  
"Then why did you?"  
  
"I didn't want her to get hurt. What if she's the one? The one that I end up loving so much that I want to spend the rest of my life with? I know it's technically too early to think about that but I can't help but wonder if that's the reason I'm so torn up about all this."  
  
"Henry," Rory placed a comforting hand on his shoulder, "you have to help me understand here cuz frankly I'm confused. If you care for her so much than why can't you be with her? Why put yourself through all this pain? Why put her through all this pain?"  
  
Henry searched her eyes to see if he could trust her. Deciding she would never let it go until she had an answer, he gave in.  
  
"Because if I didn't do it my parents would have." he said quietly.  
  
Rory's eyes widened.  
  
"My parents are just as strict as Lane's," he continued, "but worse. She can hide things from her parents but nothing escapes mine. They want me to be with a girl who's serious and dedicated, isn't in to all these crazy schemes…basically, good Korean wife material. Mom and dad saw how I was sneaking around and confronted me about it. They were thrilled that Lane is Korean and how her parents were very traditional but were less than thrilled about me keeping it a secret. When they suggested to meet the Kim's I was stuck. Mrs. Kim hasn't even met me so I tried to stop them. God Rory, I tried, I tried to find a way around it but they cornered me into telling them exactly WHY they couldn't meet Lane and her parents. When they found out they said that she wasn't the kind of influence they wanted around me and I was ordered to break it off."  
  
"I'm so sorry Henry." Rory whispered.  
  
He nodded sadly. "I told them that I wouldn't but…they said if I didn't end it they would call Lane's parents themselves. I know I hurt Lane but I also know that she'd be feeling worse right now if she knew my parents thought she was below me. That she wasn't good enough for me. I made up a story about asking someone else to the prom."  
  
"I don't know what to say. I mean, I'm sure if they met her they'd see how great she is." Rory suggested.  
  
"No, they've made their minds up. There was one thing I wasn't lying about though, I don't want to have to sneak around. I want to be able to show up on her doorstop and take her out on a normal date like a normal couple. I don't want to hide but…it's too late now."  
  
"No, it's not." Rory said passionately. "Lane's grounding will be up soon and I know that if your parents meet each other they'll realize that you're good together."  
  
"That would take an amazing amount of convincing and a lot of time." he said skeptically.  
  
"Lane will wait, and if you care that much for Lane so will you."  
  
Henry sighed. "Okay, fine, but until then Lane can't know about this. I'd rather her hate me than she feel self-conscious about herself."  
  
"Henry…" she began.  
  
"Please." he begged.  
  
"Fine, but I have to call her tonight to tell her what you said. She borrowed my mom's cell phone because she can't use more than five minutes of talk time on her phone."  
  
"Tell her anything except the truth."  
  
Rory bit her lip, she didn't like the idea of lying to her best friend but she knew that it was for her own good.  
  
"Fine." she acquiesced. "I'll talk to her as soon as I get home, that'll give me time to figure out what to say."  
  
"Can you do the three-way calling thing so I can listen in on it?" Henry asked hopefully.  
  
"Look, if you're afraid that I'll tell her…"  
  
"No," Henry interrupted, "that's not why. I just want to hear her voice and what she says. Please. Who knows when I'll have a chance next? My parents are limiting my phone time too. They're screening my calls to make sure I don't try to talk to her. Please Rory?"  
  
"Okay, be home at 4. Call me then. Okay?"  
  
"Thanks Ror. You're a good friend."  
  
He looked down sadly. Rory sighed and wrapped her arms around him in a hug.  
  
~  
  
"So? What did he say?" Lane asked excitedly.  
  
Rory bit her lip, she knew Henry was listening in on the other end. "Well, I didn't exactly get a chance to talk to him. He's kind of avoiding me." she lied.  
  
"Oh." Lane said disappointedly.  
  
"But I mean, it's not like I see him around much anyway." Rory tried to reason hoping Lane would believe her when in truth she saw Henry on a regular basis.  
  
"Oh, yeah, that's okay, you tried right?" she said, fighting back tears.  
  
"Right." Rory answered.  
  
Henry held back the urge to say something. He could hear the tears in Lane's voice and he longed to be able to make everything better.  
  
"If it's any consolation," Rory offered, "I did see him walk by at lunch…he didn't look so good."  
  
"Really?" Lane sniffled hopefully.  
  
"Really, he looked totally down." Rory affirmed her…it wasn't far from the truth.  
  
"Thanks Rory. You're a good friend."  
  
"So I've been told." Rory muttered.  
  
"What was that?" Lane asked.  
  
"Oh, nothing."  
  
"Oh, hey Rory my mom's coming I gotta go. I'll drop the phone in the plant just outside of school at three okay?"  
  
"Okay, bye."  
  
"Bye."  
  
-Click-  
  
"Thanks Rory." Henry sighed.  
  
"Was it hard? Listening like that and not being able to say anything?" she asked.  
  
"Yes. Was it hard lying to her like that?" Henry asked.  
  
"She's my best friend. I tell her everything, of course it was hard."  
  
"I'm sorry." Henry apologized.  
  
"It's okay, we had to do it."  
  
"It's for her own good." Henry agreed.  
  
"Right. Well, I have to go, my mom will be home soon and she'll want to go to Luke's."  
  
"Alright. See you at school tomorrow."  
  
"Yeah, bye."  
  
Rory hung up the phone and sighed. She felt so guilty.  
  
~  
  
Henry stared at the phone in his hands. He wanted so much to able to call Lane at that moment to apologize but alas, that was impossible. At least until he was able to change his parents minds.  
  
"It's for her own good." he whispered.  
  
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~  
  
AN: Okay, hope you liked it. Please review! 


End file.
